


Take A Deep Breath

by InkInc



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Love, Memories, Parentlock, Stolen Moments, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkInc/pseuds/InkInc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock Holmes has been disappointed by more people than anyone will ever know, and has loved more people in his life than he'd ever care to admit… but in all the years, through all the facades, and through all the distance... only one of them ever pulled all the air out of the world.</p><p>Follows Sherlock throughout moments and encounters that all add up to who he is, and it all leads up to <i>her</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take A Deep Breath

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm taking a small break in between parts 1 and 2 of "Come Attrition, Come Hell" so that I can go to a bit of a happier place and write this story. There's still going to be some angst, but "Take A Deep Breath" is definitely more of a love story. I've been working on this idea for quite a while, but didn't want to post it until part 1 of CACH was done… So, here it is! :)
> 
> I really hope you enjoy this story. Take a deep breath! Here we go...

**England**

**5 April 2042**

**...**

Violin music floated up to the window from the lawn below, and Sherlock remembered years and years before this moment how he had danced with the love of his life and how his heart had been so full. He remembered being confused as he swirled around the ballroom looking in to the eyes of the woman who had changed his life - confused but unimaginably happy. She'd changed everything for him.

Absolutely everything.

Sherlock smiled warmly as the image of himself in his head as a young man was replaced by the sight of another young man who looked at his own silhouette in the wardrobe mirror, fiddling with the buttons of his jacket.  
  
"I'm so bloody nervous." The younger man, James, said in frustration, turning to Sherlock.  
  
"She already said she'd marry you." Sherlock responded, approaching his son and straightening his bow tie. "The hardest part is done. Now all you have to do is stand at an alter and watch her walk toward you."  
  
"But it's more than that, isn't it?" James asked, loosening the tie his father had just tightened. "What if I forget my vows? What if she trips and falls coming down the aisle?"  
  
"Then we'll all have a good laugh at your expense, and then everyone will have a slice of cake at _my_ expense. Haven't you ever _been_ to a wedding?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"Then you know that they're all ridiculous." He turned around and strode toward the chair where his coat was draped. Taking it in his arms, he turned back to his son, a look of recollection on his face. "I solved a _murder_ at John's, for God's sake."

James Holmes smiled his father's smile.

"One of these days, I really will have to sit down with you and John Watson and finally work out what the hell really happened at Baker Street."  
  
"It's more fun not knowing." Sherlock said with a wink.  
  
"Funny. Never expected to hear you say that."  
  
Sherlock pursed his lips for a moment.  
  
"Fair enough. It's more fun when other people don't know."

James nodded, though his smile faded slightly, and his eyes became far away.

"Dad," he started, and then his eyes sharpened as he focused his deep blue gaze at his father. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"  
  
Sherlock was silent for a moment as he contemplated a response. He had never been one for the "right thing", so he wasn't sure that he exactly recognized it when it presented himself.

"Can you breathe when she's in the room?" He asked very gravely.

James laughed a bit.  
  
"Hardly." He said.  
  
Sherlock smiled his son's smile.  
  
"Then I'd say you're doing the right thing."

James pressed his lips together and nodded before briefly turning back to the mirror, and then back to his father as though he'd forgotten something.

"Is that how you felt when you met mum?" He asked.

The smile on Sherlock's face was not for James as he slipped back in to his own mind for a moment, recalling the first moment he'd laid eyes on the woman that sucked the air out of his world.

_Take a deep breath..._

"Yes." He responded after a few moments, his thoughts still elsewhere. "I'd never met anyone before or anyone since quite like your mother."

 

* * *

  **42 Years Earlier**

**...**

 "William--"

  
"No."

"Er, what? But I--"

"No."  
  
"But I--"  
  
Sherlock looked up from his physics book from where he sat on the wooden bench in the school courtyard at a, objectively speaking, very beautiful young lady. Abby, he believed was her name. She was in his year and, from what he understood, very popular.  
  
"You know what I think?" He asked. Abby shook her head slightly, her smile widening a bit.  
  
"... No."  
  
"I think that your mates over there dared you to come over here to talk to me." He peered around her to where a group of girls huddled together who were seemingly doing their very best not to look over at him... Though a series of "hushing" noises escaped from their direction as his eyes turned to them. He looked back up at the girl standing in front of him and quirked an eyebrow. "Your cheeks are flushed, did you know?"  
  
Abby's eyes shot to the ground, and the red in her face deepened.  
  
"It's a sign of embarrassment... but that's an easy observation." He paused. "Do you want me to tell you what else I see?"

Abby took a small step back, as though to return to her friends.

"No, I think--"  
  
"I see that you're breathing hard, and since I didn't notice you overly exert yourself in the 15 minutes that you've been standing over there watching me, I can only assume that this is an emotional response. Should I go on?"

She gestured toward something behind her, but at nothing in particular.

"No--"  
  
"Your lower lip is red; you've been biting it. Unconsciously? Probably they've dared you to kiss me. Now here's what I don't know - what I _don't_ know is whether or not you manipulated the situation for your own purposes, because you secretly fancy me... or if this is a legitimate attempt to embarrass me for the sake of a few laughs at my expense."  
  
She looked him in the eyes at that, her eyebrows furrowed and the expression on her face was a mix of hurt and incredulity that was singular to girls her age... but she said nothing.

Sherlock stood, and now he looked down at the girl.

"Whichever it is," he looked her over critically. "I'm not interested."  
  
He started to walk away, but to his infinite surprise, the girl actually placed her hand on his arm to stop him. He looked at her hand, his forehead creased, and then to her face. Was he wrong? Had she just meant to say hello? Something nice? For once?  
  
"They're right about you." She said, dropping her hand away from him. "You're... awful."  
  
Sherlock slumped a little, and then looked to the group of girls who were outright staring at him and Abby now, and then looked down for a moment before looking back at her.  
  
"So, which was it?" He asked, sounding as though he were relenting to something.

Abby looked confused.

"What?"  
  
"Did you want to kiss me, or did you want to embarrass me?"  
  
She didn't answer. Sherlock nodded twice, slowly, then took a sharp breath.  
  
"If it's the first scenario and you really have manipulated your friends in to daring you to come over here just so that you would have an acceptable excuse to speak to me, then why would I want anything to do with it? The thought occurs to me that I would have to have incredibly low self esteem to accept attention from someone who was too ashamed to admit that she actually liked me." He tilted his head. She stared up at him, but remained silent. He stepped in closer to her. "If it's not that, then you just came over here to humiliate me, which is, let's face it, more likely-- So, _you_ tell _me_. Which of the two of us is worse?"

The girl still said nothing, but had the grace to appear ashamed. He smiled a wry, knowing, half smile.

"I don't have time for games, and I have less time for girlfriends... So the next time you or your friends decide it would be a bit of fun to try and get a rise out of the Holmes boy, try doing us all a favor and be _smarter_ than that."  
  
He turned and started away, leaving her with one last sentence:  
  
"And the name is Sherlock."

* * *

**19 Years Later**

"Take a deep breath." She whispered. Sherlock closed his eyes, his heart pounding.

He breathed in, but there was no air, and she was the whole world.

"I love you."

  
 **...**

 


End file.
